Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've dealt with some challenging choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section made me pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that walking through it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps instead and get to the top in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he trips. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call